South Burnett and part of the Mary Valley
This section provides an overview of sawmilling in the South Burnett, the Kilkivan, Tiaro and Mungar areas and west to Gayndah.
Kilkivan and South Burnett
The railway from Theebine to Kilkivan, later extended to Goomeri, Wondai, Kingaroy and Nanango was the means of exploiting large amounts of forest.
John and James Rattray operated a mill at Brooyar, 11 miles north east of Kilkivan in the 1890s. From the 1920s there were mills in the Woolooga area. Spencer Brothers purchased a portable mill and operated it at Oakview Siding from 1935. The mill was electrified in 1954. The Spencers bought a quota of Hoop pine plantation timber, enlarged the mill, survived the 1961 housing slump and in 1963 purchased the Kilkivan Mill. After Forestry permitted mergers, George Spencer took this step and joined with North Coast Sawmill of Cooroy in hardwood and pine, and Wilson Hart with the thinning quotas.1
Timber getting in the Kilkivan area dates from the 1870s, on a small scale until the railway reached Kilkivan in 1886. Substantial stands remained until the 1900s.2 Hyne and Sons operated at Kilkivan in the 1940s, possibly taking over H.D. Denyer's operation.
C.C. Jones built the Kilkivan sawmill close to the railway yard in the 1920s, later sold to Alf Pearson and later to Spencers.3 The Kilkivan Timber Company operated at Collins Creek, south of Kilkivan in the Black Snake Range area. H.R. and C.H. Pearson were partners in the company in the 1940s.4 The Black Snake Mill was established by Raspus and Coop, subsequently owned by T.H. Spencer of Goomeri, Hayden Shire, Allen and Company, and Strakers. The mill was electrified when power became available.5
T.H. Spencer milled at Gayndah and Biggenden before acquiring a mill at Sefton near Daddamarine which he moved to Scrubby Paddock, Elgin Vale about 1927 where he established a settlement including a school.6
Abraham Boldery erected a sawmill near Kabunga Creek south of Kinbombi in the early 1900s. In 1922 the enterprise was incorporated as the Kabunga Sawmilling Company with the Perrett family, local graziers, the mill manager W.H. Day, and mill employees Giles and W.R. Boldery being shareholders. The company was voluntarily wound up only a year later, possibly because the mill had burnt down although Logan dates the fire as 1925.7
The mill was rebuilt at Kinbombi, apparently by Skyrings Limited. Logan states that H.A. Skyring had taken over the Kabunga Creek mill. Kimbombi siding was also the outlet for timber from Manumbar area.8 The Skyring Mill is recorded in the 1929-30 Post Office Directory at Goomeri. the nearest large town.
Goomeri
Timber getters quickly followed the railway. The first sawmill was established by Ross and Company at Elgin Vale on Moonda Waamba Creek in Water Reserve 81 in 1908. Ross and Company shifted to Goomeri, and enlarged the mill, and rebuilt it after it burnt down. Ross operated the mill until he died in 1940. The mill still operated as Ross and Company and closed in 1958.9 Fraser Wright (1916- 29), Brett Limited (1923-41, possibly the Manumbar Mill) and Thomas H. Spencer (1941-45) are also listed at Goomeri.
As well as William Ross, noted at Elgin Vale in 1914, Fraser Wright was recorded as Elgin Vale 1914-15. T.H. Spencer transferred a mill to Elgin Vale about 1927, at Scrubby Paddock.10 Although closed for some years in the depression, it reopened and supported a small township with cottages, boarding house and school. The engine came from T. Robinson and Son, England with a smaller engine for planing.
The mill burnt down in 1943 and was rebuilt in 1945 with one boiler. It was sold to Wilson Hart of Maryborough in 1946. They appointed Roy Veritz as manager, other managers being G. Risk, R. Davies and Dick Collard. In later years the managers also acted as foremen and benchmen.
Frank Coleman of Goomeri was one of the carriers taking sawn timber by truck to Goomeri Railway Station, usually railed to Maryborough. After one bad fire at Maryborough, Wilson Hart relocated its staff to Elgin Vale, augmenting the 20 men normally at work, and the mill worked three shifts a day.
Electricity did not reach Elgin Vale until 1965 and steam operation continued with electricity only used for lighting. Steam operation continued until the April 1987 close down, the result of a building downturn and depletion of local supplies. The school, closed in 1977, is now a QCWA rest room. Bob Mercer managed the mill in the latter years. It was handed over jointly to Kilkivan Shire Councils as a National Trust building and tourist attraction. The last known firing of the boiler was in 1991 for a demonstration run.11
Elgin Vale was in 1950 one of the states largest sawmills.12 [The appellation as Coffee Pot Mill is not historically sound.]
Fred Hoskins set up a mill near Toomcul Creek on the Manumbar-Kinbombi Road, powered by portable steam boiler, and later moved it to near Tankallaman Creek and sold it to D.G. Brims and Sons.13
The Manumbar State Forest was a major resource and in 1914-15 preliminary work began on a survey from Goomeri, followed by survey from Goomeri to Coothing in 1918-1920. A deputation in 1923 sought construction of a 32 mile line from Goomeri to Manumbar.14 Given the large capital outlay and impossibility of the line operating profitably, the Manumbar Forest was developed based on motor transport of sawn timber.15
The Manumbar Timber Company had started a sawmill managed by H. Thomsett in 1917, with sawn timber hauled by bullock team to Kinbombi siding. The workforce dropped from 23 to 15 in the depression. The mill was later acquired by Brett and Company, possibly by 1923. The mill operated until 1967, Dick O'Brien being the last manager.16 Kinbombi Plywood operated at Manumbar beside the timber mill, using large straight cylindrical hoop pine logs to make the 3/16 inch thick sheets needed for three ply. The three sheets after drying and gluing were forced together under pressure and allowed to dry, cut to size and marketed. R.B. Nutting managed the plywood mill.17
There was also a steam-driven sawmill at nearby Gallangowan, known as Brims Mill. Fred Hoskins was the manager in the 1930s. A diesel engine later replaced steam.18 This may be the mill referred to as D.G. Brims & Sons Pty Ltd Manumbar Mill in 1949, or alternatively they acquired Brett's Manumbar mill about this time. Brim's Mill was on Portion 3 (or 31) and the Manumbar Mill on Portion 16, Gallangowan Parish.
Murgon and Kingaroy
Murgon did not appear to exist before the railway was built and timber was its early mainstay. Edward Thomas and Robert W. Nutt from 1911 and the Murgon Saw Milling Company from 1913 were the early listed sawmillers. Fred A. Carter and Cobb Brothers were listed from 1921 and A. Rickert from 1923. Carter's sawmill was located on his selection at Boat Mountain Tableland using a portable steam engine which he later abandoned near Kinbombi. Many teams were hauling logs from the slopes of Boat Mountain. Murphy and Easton state that signs of depletion of the pine were visible as early as 1906.19 Nevertheless Murgon continued to have several mills. By 1950 Rose and Sons were perhaps the only remaining millers with P.J. Woodrow at Woodall and G.H. Rickert at Mount Kent nearby.
West of Murgon there were mills at Byee, Hivesville and Kinleymore and particularly Proston. In 1949 a railway siding was provided opposite Proston School to serve the new Railway Department sleeper mill which began cutting on 27 June 1950 and operated for about 20 years.20
West of Proston, Hyne and Sons began milling at Brovinia from around 1943. Strakers and Crook formed a partnership to mill at Allies Creek after World War II, buying a sawmill at Kingaroy to get a licence. The mill at Allies Creek known as Queensland Sawmills, was completed by Frank Straker in 1945, burnt down in 1952 and rebuilt with second hand equipment. Strakers withdrew to concentrate on the Eidsvold area in 1964 with John Crooke continuing and 60 people at the Allies Creek settlement dependent on the mill.21 Hayden Shire & Co. and K.C. and N.M. Mearns were milling at Boondooma from around 1949.
South of Murgon, Edwin Fletcher was milling at Wondai from 1904, a mill which appeared to have been operated from 1907 by John Howarth, then Thomson and Thomson, and from the 1930s by F.H. Jones Pty Ltd.
There were mills near Tingoora, at Cushnie and Memerambi, plus Logboy and Booie.
As the railway brought about the clearing of the Coolabunia Scrub for agriculture, timber became the major industry for some years, with 100 teams hauling logs from the area around Kingaroy.22
Once the railway opened teams made a regular procession up to the Kingaroy railway yards. The Western Australian Jarrah company was largely in charge of operations. The company also introduced traction engine haulage. Hyne and Son, B. Appel and Wilson Hart were also involved in the trade. By 1914 "the tree treasure was exhausted".23
George Mullen was listed as milling at Kingaroy from 1906 and the Jarrah Millar's Karri and Jarrah Co. (1902) Limited in 1908, and from 1909 its offshoot Queensland Pine Company Limited. Pook and Preston milled from around 1910, possibly the mill originally Mullen's. Hayden and Shire moved to Kingaroy around 1934 and were still operating in 1950. They also had a mill at Ironpot after the war.24
Nanango
Nanango was a timber town from its early years but had only small local markets until completion of the railway via Kilkivan in November 1911. Licences were issued for timber cutters in 1864. Murphy and Easton credit John Heiner as owning the first sawmill in Nanango, entirely hand operated, and comment that it started in 1901 in Fitzroy Street.25
There was, however, a steam sawmill as early as 1878, the Queensland Times recording that R. Hendall's steam sawmill had resumed work in March 1878 after having been out of use for some time. A sawmill plant passed through Nanango in 1891, hauled up the range by 16 bullocks with T. Smith in charge; its destination was not stated.26 Pugh records James Miller at Nanango from 1887 to 1891 and John Heiner as proprietor from 1892. H. Parson is listed in the Queensland Post Office Directory from 1900 and I. Fletcher from 1902 to 1905.
Watt, Muller and Company, later The Timber Corporation started its mill in 1908, managed by George Gordon Watt, experienced in timber, having managed sawmills at Palen Creek, Fernvale and Dundas. The mill, on a hill on the south-eastern side of the town, initially used steam traction engines to take sawn timber to the Kingaroy railhead. After the extension of the railway to Nanango, the mill was moved to the flat beside Horse creek just beyond the railway station. It was served by a siding built off the forkline in 1912. The mill was a large one, employing a maximum of 150 men.27
After Muller sold his share in Watt, Muller and Company to local interests, the Timber Corporation was formed with headquarters in Brisbane. T.F. Moxton and later R.D. Frew were managing directors. Watt sold out in 1912, managing mills at Targinnie, Bunya Mountains and then joined Hancock and Gore in 1917.
The Nanango mill was burnt down in 1925 and rebuilt, with G.G. Watt supervising the installation of Robinson bandsaw and 'mule driver'. Timber Corporation sold the mill to Hancock and Gore in 1928 and Watt returned to Nanango as manager and later retired. His son George Alexander Watt continued in his father's trade, managing at Simsville near Stroud, NSW and at Louisavale, Monsildale and then Nanango for 27 years where he too retired. He had wanted to study medicine and in caring for his workmen gained a reputation as first-aid expert and for professional splints. He was prominent in Nanango affairs. Both Watts descended from Alexander Watt whose sons were sawmillers on the Coomera River.28 The mill was a major enterprise and operated until around 1970.
To the south and south west of Kingaroy, there were mills at Taabinga, Barker's Creek, Brooklands, Tarong, Glencliff and Kumbia. Samuel Johnston was operating the mill at Taabinga Village by 1907 (the railway to Taabinga and Tarong opened in late 1915). The mill was established about 1901 by George Muller.29 The site has been recorded as part of the survey of historic sites in the Kingaroy Shire, Portion 36v, Parish of Boonenne.
Millar's Karri and Jarrah Company (1902) Ltd were listed at Barker's Creek 1908-11 and at Tarong 1943-46.
George Preston brought a travelling sawmill to Kumbia in late 1913 and in 1915 Don Preston established a mill at the Alice Creek water reserve, south-west of Kumbia.30
Tiaro, Biggenden, Monto &c
The railway from Maryborough to Gympie was specially diverted to the west of the Mary River to serve the Mungar Sawmill and the Yengarie Sugar Refinery. Both enterprises lasted a comparatively short time but gave Maryborough the permanent legacy of a dead end railway and consequently it is not served by through trains on the North Coast Line. Plans to rectify the mistake never came to fruition.
Although the Mungar mill, and its tramway, were established a decade before the railway opened, many other mills were stimulated by the line, which also enabled large quantities of logs to be railed to Maryborough and Gympie and as at Bundaberg, the timber industry made the line more profitable then expected.
The Dalkeith Sawmill at Gootchie started operation on 1 August 1883 but the original proprietors were unable to pay their debts only two years later.31The mill was listed under Gundiah in Pugh's Almanac and Post Office Directory until 1893. Dowser Brothers were milling at Gootchie in the 1910s. Ferguson and Company of Gympie bought the mill at Gundiah in 1896 and operated there to 1907. J and P. Lewis and R. Sim were listed as milling at Gundiah in 1918.
Bauple was principally a small township around the sugar mill. The sugar mill had its own saw mill but the Bates family, covering at least two generations, operated there from around 1913 until at least the 1950s, by which time the sugar mill had closed. This was the larger of the two mills at Bauple.32 The other appears to have been A.C. Pearson's; he also milled at Kilkivan.
Tiaro
The township of Tiaro predated the railway, being for some years the head of navigation on the Mary. The Wide Bay Sawmill Company Limited was registered on 14 July 1882, a year after the railway opened. The company was unusual as it had many local shareholders including about twenty timber getters and sawyers. The company was not successful and was wound up in 1884. The Wide Bay sawmill continued to operate for another decade.
Norm Armstrong was listed in 1941-43 as milling at Tinana Creek, Tiaro and in 1947 and 1949 as N. and N.K. Armstrong, Magnolia Saw Mills. The sawmill was operating in and presumably before 1936 judging by its registration number (50), later 1269 and now 2749. N. and N.K. Armstrong were listed as proprietors in 1947 and 1949, and the trading name was altered to Magnolia Saw and Planing Mills, presumably when planing facilities were added. The original site of Portion 55, Parish of Bidwell gave rise to the name Magnolia which appears to have been retained with the move to Tiaro (Parish Gundiah Section 7 (as 1269) or Section 2B, Town of Tiaro (2749). The ownership changed to Hedera Pty Ltd trading as Tiaro Sawmills, and by 1997 it was Vetal Pty Ltd trading as Tiaro Timbers with Mr G. Starkey, Receiver and Manager, the mill having closed.33 It seems to have been unable to serve the debt resulting from the extensive modernisation and rebuilding.
Just north of Tiaro is the new woodchip plant at Owanyilla with its product railed to Gladstone for export.34
Mungar Sawmill and Tramway
Hyne and Son bought the Mungar mill in 1889 and from about 1894 to 1897 also milled at Mungar.
Percy and John Ramsay came to Maryborough from Sydney in 1870 to take over the Iindah sugar plantation and built the Mungar sawmill. Both ventures failed financially. Henry Armitage who came to Queensland in 1861, was later joined by his brother Edward who had experience pit-sawing on the Herbert River before coming to Mungar to manage Mungar for the Ramsays.35
Ramsays chose a site closer a site for the sawmill well away from the river. Consequently they decided to lay a tramway nearly two miles from the river bank to the site.36 Both mill and tramway were completed by the end of 1873, although the river wharf was still under construction and sawn timber had to be manhandled from the tramway on the bank down to the river craft. The tramway was built with wooden rails and wooden sleepers, kept firm by wedges in the squared notches cut in the sleepers at three feet intervals and without nails. Spotted gum 3 x 5 inches standing on the narrow edge provided a fair margin for wear. Horses hauled the sawn timber to the river. Henry Armitage, as first manager, had a mill beside the creek with cottages and humpies for 40 men and timber supplies close by. With 47 employees it was labour intensive.37